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Polesitter Alexandros Margaritis gave everyone a big fright at the start of the penultimate race of the season, when he stalled as the signal was given. Luckily, the other 29 drivers were able to avoid the Greek rookie, and Markus Winkelhock took the lead. A few metres further on, Christian Klien became entangled with Adam Carroll. Although the British driver was able to continue, the best rookie of the 2003 season was forced to retire. Winkelhock was pushing hard, and by the sixth lap, he had a lead of 5 seconds over the chasing pack, made up of Pla, Carbone, Kubica and Lapierre. But his hard work came to nothing when the safety car was brought in on lap seven. Alexandre Premat, who was fighting with Andreas Zuber, left the track violently in the fast Estoril corner. It has been a bad day for ASM, who had also lost Bruno Spengler with mechanical problems. When the race was restarted, Markus Winkelhock was still in command. None of his closest rivals could touch him for the final six laps, the race being brought to an end after 30 minutes, with French driver Olivier Pla finishing second. The duel between these two promises to be intense tomorrow, as just one point separates the ASM driver from the Mücke Motorsport driver in the fight for third place in the Championship. Third place on the podium was taken by Signature Plus driver Fabio Carbone, from Brazil. The unfortunate polesitter, Alexandros Margaritis, did not even manage to get to the finish line. The MB Racing Performance driver retired on the 12th lap after colliding with César Campanico. If the race was relatively calm at the front, the duel between Timo Glock and Ryan Briscoe delighted the spectators. Unaccustomed to starting from the back of the grid, the two drivers made a fantastic recovery, climbing up the field to finish in 13th and 14th places respectively. As for local hero Nicolas Lapierre, he came home in 5th position. INTERVIEWS: Markus Winkelhock (Mücke Motorsport) : “This race was perfect. Even after the safety car, I managed to set a good rhythm. I am really pleased, as this is my penultimate Formula 3 race, as I will not be going to Macau. Nothing has been signed yet, but the option of racing in the DTM next year is looking good. It’s still looking close for third place in the Championship; we’ll have to see tomorrow. “ Race
2: German driver Timo Glock won the final race of the 2003 Formula 3 Euro Series, bringing to an end a season full of excitement, with eight different winners and a total of 17 different nationalities represented. The first season of this new series has lived up to all expectations, and the launch of the new season is awaited with great impatience. On pole position for the second time this weekend, Alexandros Margaritis once more missed his start, and let Timo Glock take the lead ahead of him. The Greek driver protected his second place from Briscoe, while Robert Doornbos made an excellent start and followed the leading duo in third place. The first major turnaround took place on the second lap, when the new Champion, Ryan Briscoe, was awarded a drive-through penalty for cutting a chicane. The Australian lost his fifth place, and after serving his penalty, managed to climb back up to 14th position. On the same lap, local hero Nicolas Lapierre made a small mistake and lost six places. The duel for third place in the championship was at its height, as Olivier Pla and Markus Winkelhock found themselves nose to tail. But on lap 3, the German made a mistake under braking, and lost contact with the Frenchman. At the front, Timo Glock was under pressure from Doornbos, in his orange single-seater. Another duel was underway, but unfortunately this one did not last long, as Fabio Carbone and Nico Rosberg entangled under braking for the Adelaide Hairpin on lap 6. The front positions remained stable, but behind them, Christian Klien was gaining ground, taking third place from Margaritis on the 13th lap. From then on, the podium positions did not change : Timo Glock, Robert Doornbos and Christian Klien. All eyes were then on the all-French battle, as Olivier Pla was under attack from Nicolas Lapierre. The ASM, thinking first and foremost of his third place in the championship, was not able to resist a superb overtaking manoeuvre at the Lycee corner from the young Signature Plus driver. INTERVIEWS: Timo Glock (Opel Team KMS) : “This is the best possible way to finish the season. I made a good start, but the tyres took two or three laps to heat up. I was keeping an eye on Robert, who was catching me, but I was able to keep my lead. Next week, I will be testing a DTM car, and we will have to see what happens next year.”
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